Introduction to Scratch Part III: How do parents and teachers get started using Scratch?

At almost every event or workshop we attend, parents ask our team members the same question, “How do I encourage my child to learn about coding?” While there are a number of great learn-to-code resources available today, Scratch is our go-to suggestion. Each week we’ll be posting a new tip or tutorial for learning how […]

Family maker projects to celebrate Spring

Here in London it felt like Winter would never end, but finally, Spring is here! If you’re looking for fun family projects to celebrate the coming of Spring and/or Easter, we’ve compiled a list of great maker projects. Time to put the gloves and coats away and create something joyful! 1. Yarn Wrapped Easter Eggs […]

How to make homemade conductive paint

Conductive paint, while awesome, can be expensive if purchased from online retailers. Spending $12 on a 10ml tube of conductive paint, really adds up quickly for parents and educators. For some time now at the MakerBus we’ve been experimenting with making homemade conductive paint that is less expensive that store bought varieties – now at long […]

Ideas for planning large-scale maker workshops

This Friday (February 20th) the MakerBus will be helping Brescia College with their “Just Own It” conference. During this one-day event Brescia will welcome 300 high school girls from London and the surrounding area for an active learning workshop encouraging young women to consider becoming entrepreneurs. The MakerBus was invited by Brescia to design one […]

Ideas for creating a makerspace in a box

We were recently asked by a community partner what we would put in a makerspace in a box – something portable that could be transported for location to location to create pop-up maker experiences. For this thought experiment let’s assume that in addition to our makerspace-in-a-box you would have access to basic equipment like computers, […]

How to make non-toxic slime using Borax and glue

Check out our new tutorial video showing how to make MakerBus favourite.

How to make a $1000 makerspace for your library

Last week we explored ideas for building a $100 library makerspace. This week we’re increasing our budget 10 fold and exploring how to build a $1000 library makerspace. While our budget has gone up significantly, we’ll still have to be strategic about how we spend our money. Should I buy a 3D printer? We get asked this […]

How to make a $100 makerspace for your library

Working with the MakerBus we’ve had to learn how to do a lot with very little. This is the first instalment of a three-part series exploring how to create library makerspaces with very little (the $100 makerspace), moderate (the $1000 makerspace), and a ludicrous (the $1,000,000 makerspace) amounts of funding. Follow along as we share […]

An easy way to make a brushbot

There are plenty of fantastic tutorials on the internet showing how to make tiny robots called “brushbots” out of toothbrushes (this one is quite good). But we’ve noticed that a lot of the tutorials require soldering – something that not everyone feels comfortable with since it involves molten lead. This tutorial will show how you […]